1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink jet printer, and more particularly to an improvement to prevent a variation of velocity of movement of a carriage which carries print elements.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In an ink jet printer, a carriage which carries a plurality of ink jet nozzles is reciprocated on a print paper by a linear motor or a rotary motor to print characters. Ink contained in a stationary ink tank is supplied to the ink jet nozzles through a flexible ink tube to follow the reciprocation of the carriage. Although the ink tube is flexible, the rigidity and weight thereof are not negligible. In a multi-color ink jet printer, the number of ink tubes which form ink supply paths to supply inks of different colors increases and the rigidity increases accordingly. Since the rigidity of the ink tube changes as the carriage moves, a drive load of the carriage varies. This causes a variation in the velocity of the carriage movement. As a result, a flying locus of the ink drop ejected from the ink jet nozzle toward the print paper varies and a quality of record is degraded.